Modern India continues to be plagued by social and health ills like child marriage, early motherhood and domestic violence.  Latest data in the "State of the World's Children report 2012" released by Unicef on Wednesday shows that almost 22% women in India, who are now aged between 20 and 24 years gave birth to a child before they turned 18.  Almost 45 among every 1,000 births are born to mothers in the...

-The Hindu   Schools of Delhi Govt., MCD, NDMC, Delhi Cantonment and anganwadis to be administered tablets today Two months into the Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna (CNSY) that seeks to provide free and comprehensive health services to all school-going children in Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday launched a major State-wide de-worming campaign by administering chewable tablets to 50 school-going children at her residence. Since soil-transmitted worms are the commonest infestations in pre-school...

People with medical implants like pacemakers must not keep their cellphones on their shirt pockets.  The latest directive by the department of telecommunication (DoT) says that "people having active medical implants should preferably keep the cellphone at least 15cm away from the implant."  An office memorandum, circulated by the ministry of communications and IT on January 25, says manufacturer's mobile handset booklets will have to contain the safety precaution.  MoS for communications and...

-The Hindu At least 100 Adolescents from Madurai, Theni and Ramanathapuram districts are suspected to be engaged in units making ‘murukku' in Jharsuguda district, Orissa, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police (Madurai Range) B. Bala Naga Devi here on Sunday. The Madurai Rural Police arrested three persons, including a broker, on charges of forced labour and wrongful confinement of children. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Ms. Bala Naga Devi said a 15-year-old...

-The Hindu   The second “national convention on children's right to food” concluded here on Sunday with a call to link anti-malnutrition strategies to inflationary indices. The three-day convention in which about 1,000 delegates from 21 States participated, adopted a 25-point “charter” on combating malnutrition. Shanta Sinha, chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), stressed on focussing on the disadvantaged sections in the fight against malnutrition. Blaming the Central and...